Moby Dick

"Classic" or "canonical" describe the effect Moby Dick on US literature, but can't capture the emotional turmoil at the heart of this book. Melville seemingly sets out to render the whole world through the workings of a whaling ship, or the spirit of the age on the verge of a second industrial revolution. I also highly recommend CLR James' work of literary analysis, Mariners, Renegades, and Castaways, as a supplement for Melville's radical humanism